30 
Hi 



[b^^^H 




'^f MK: 


^^t^^^^ 




E^B 






>* 


K^ 


i-/\A* ;)v ^-• 


r-'^g^fL-^^;) 


)M^ 



:^.©^- 



\\i\ 



-^^s. 




- iiOMWaiWflttm*»a***»'**s 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

J.^ .645 u^^ 

J PRESENTED BY 

UNITED STATES OF AMEKIOA, 



I 



y 



ANDAMANA 



FIRST QUEEN OF CANARY, 

Ancestress of the Family of Eugenie, the late Empress of 
the French. 



AND HER REMARKABLE AND SUCCESSFUL 

COUP D'ETx^T. 



By WILLIAM B. WHITING, 

^ ^^^ ^^ CO A 



New York :^^:^=^V--^^c^'- / 

PRINTED BY EDWARD O. JEN^=^ WASWH^^-^^ 

20 North William Street. 
1875. 




,0 



-2^ 



(^^5 



\/\lt 



ANDAMANA: 



FIRST QUEEN OF CANARY. 



In 1844 the writer, Commodore William 
B. Whiting, U. S. Navy, then a lieutenant, 
visited the island of Gran Canaria and was 
much interested in the legends of Anda- 
mana, originally a village maiden and after- 
wards Queen of Canary, which prevail 
there. The unanimity of these traditions 
proves that their foundation rests on truth, 
and Spanish histories also confirm their 
correctness ; though the works of other 
nations, at least English histories, make no 
mention of her name ; and to correct this 
deficiency, and to place it, where it de- 



4 ANDAMANA. 

serves to be, on their record, among his- 
torical narratives of the heroines of the 
world, is the object of this notice. 

It is supposed that the Canary islands 
were peopled long before the Christian 
era, and that the ancient Phoenicians 
traded with them, but that the first inhab- 
itants were driven out by the violence of 
the volcanic eruptions which were preva- 
lent throughout the islands, traces of which 
mark every portion of them at this day. 
The Greeks and Romans knew of their 
existence, designating them as the Happy 
islands, the former locating in the sylvan 
regions of that far-off archipelago, their 
celebrated Elysian Fields ; and among the 
latter, Pliny makes mention of them, but 
says that at his time they were uninhabit- 
ed, though vestiges of former buildings 



ANDAMANA. 5 

Still remained. If so, and at the time of 
Augustus Caesar they were uninhabited, we 
may infer, from the absence of all trace of 
Mohammedanism in the religion of the 
inhabitants of the islands at the time of 
their conquest by the Spaniards, that their 
progenitors (who probably came from 
Northern Africa, to which the islands are 
very near ; the easternmost, indeed, being 
within sight of the main land) migrated 
from the continent between that period 
and the conquest of the States of Barbary 
by the Arabs. 

Plutarch also speaks of them nearly 
half a century later, and mentions their 
inhabitants (by which it appears that they 
were repeopled about the time that Pliny 
first wrote of them), though he seems to 
have no other precise knowledge concern- 



ANDAMANA. 



ing them, than of their mere existence, 
and, indeed, it is difficult to tell from his 
remarks whether Madeira or Canary is in- 
dicated. 

The existence of the Canary Islands 
seems to have been forgotten until their 
rediscovery in the fourteenth century by a 
French vessel which was wrecked on their 
coast, at which time they were peopled by 
a warlike race, brave, chivalrous, gallant, 
and generous to an extreme. They scorned 
to attack an unarmed foe, or to injure 
women or children, and esteemed treach- 
ery and falsehood as the greatest of crimes. 

The central and principal of the group 
is the island of Gran Canaria, so named, 
not because it is the largest, which it is 
not (Teneriffe being larger, though con- 
taining a less inhabitable area of land. 



ANDAMANA. 7 

and Gran Canaria second in size), but be- 
cause of the bravery of its inhabitants, 
which, for a long time, baffled every at- 
tempt of the French or Spaniards to sub- 
due it. It contains 758 square miles, and 
at the time of the Spanish invasion num- 
bered 14,000 fighting men, a larger force 
than any other island of the group pos- 
sessed. 

The men were celebrated for their tall 
stature, and Humboldt styles them the 
Patagonians of the Old World ; and, in- 
deed, fabulous stories are told of their 
stature by some of the early Spanish 
writers — one asserting that a chief of Gran 
Canaria was fourteen feet in height, and 
another nine. 

An old account says : " The women of 
Gran Canaria are represented as very 



ANDAMANA. 



beautiful, and the men as well-formed, of 
good stature, active and athletic — some of 
them exceedingly strong, cheerful, good- 
natured, and strictly faithful to their 
promises. In complexion they are dark 
like the inhabitants of the other islands, 
but not much more so than the Spaniards 
and Italians." 

In illustration of their great strength, 
Don Juan de Abreu de Galineo tells the 
following story of Adargoma, a chief of 
Gran Canaria, who was taken prisoner by 
the Spaniards and transported as captive 
to Spain. His reputation for great strength 
and skill as a wrestler was noised abroad 
in that country, and a Spaniard, noted for 
his immense strength, challenged him to a 
wrestling match. Adargoma replied that 
he would accept the challenge with great 



ANDAMANA. 9 

pleasure, but wished to premise a prelimi- 
nary trial. He would have a glass placed 
on a table at his side, and filled with wine 
to its utmost capacity, and he would then 
raise it slowly from the table to his lips 
without bending his body, and his chal- 
lenger should in the meanwhile endeavor, 
by every means in his power, to make him 
spill one drop. If he could not do it, he 
would advise him to withdraw his chal- 
lenge, and not tempt further discomfiture. 
The preliminary trial having taken place, 
and the Spaniard having been unable to 
disturb the equanimity of Adargoma's 
arm, wisely took his advice, and withdrew 
from further contest. 

The island of Gran Canaria, in early 
times, was divided into ten petty districts 
or villages, called respectively, Gaidar, 



lO 



ANDAMANA. 



Telde, Aquimez, Tejeda, Aquejata, Agu- 
ete, Tamaraceita, Artibirgo, Ateacas, and 
Arucas.* Each district was governed by a 
chief called Guanarteme, who maintained 
a body of armed warriors under his con- 
trol, and united in himself the offices of 
dictator, legislator, and executive ; framed 
the laws, and appointed magistrates to en- 
force them ; calling, however, at his op- 
tion, an advisory council of the old men 
of the village, who also met at his death 
to choose his successor. 

This subdivision into petty independent 
sovereignties, and the naturally warlike 
character of the inhabitants, were the oc- 
casion of many internal dissensions and 
wars, which were frequent and bloody. 

* Galineo says it was divided into twelve dis- 
tricts, but does not give their names. 



ANDAMANA. II 

In the village of Gaidar lived a young 
girl called Andamana,* who, legend says, 
possessed extraordinary wisdom. Her 
judgment was often consulted on the 
most weighty matters, and her reputation 
for wisdom, at first confined to her own 
family and friends, and then to her own 
district, soon spread to the surrounding 
country, so that deputations from a dis- 
tance often came to the village where she 
resided to consult her opinion on impor- 
tant or disputed points. Litigants appealed 
to her before bringing their cases before 

* Ab Gal calls her Atidamana ; Galineo calls 
her Antidamana, and other Spanish writers call 
her Andamada, and some Andamanada ; but the 
name generally accepted as correct, and the one 
alone prevalent in the island of Gran Canaria, 
is Andamana. 



12 



ANDAMANA. 



the magistrates, and the magistrates them- 
selves often appealed to her before making 
their decisions, and the invariable success 
which attended compliance with her coun- 
sel induced the people to regard her as 
inspired. 

This popular rumor, which often came 
to her ears, and the constant reference to 
her judgment of public matters, seem to 
have kindled ambition in her breast, and 
to have prompted her subsequent con- 
duct. 

The wisdom of her decisions at first 
only elicited applause ; but when encour- 
aged by the deference paid to those opin- 
ions, she proceeded to pronounce de- 
cisions also, in addition to giving advice ; 
the magistrates complained of her actions 
as an infringement on their privileges. 



■ ^■>-^*IJi.^i^.. K..,n..-;>»-,- 



ANDAMANA. 



13 



Particularly was this complaint induced, 
by the fact that their receipts were seri- 
ously affected by her course ; she charged 
no fee; but their charges were heavy, and 
often the litigant who was able to give 
the largest fee obtained a verdict in his 
favor, although his adversary might pos- 
sess the better argument. 

Andamana was extremely popular 
among the people of her district, and the 
Guanarteme, fearing to take open measures 
against her, on his own responsibility, 
called a council to take into consideration 
her pretensions and encroachments. But 
instead of quailing before this measure, so 
fraught with apparent danger to the suc- 
cess of her ambitious plans, she made it a 
means of advancing her power. 

The Council met when the door opened, 



14 ANDAMANA. 

and Andamana, splendidly attired, enter- 
ed, and calmly assumed a seat as presiding 
officer of the assembly. The members of 
the Council were struck dumb with as- 
tonishment, and none uttered a word. It 
was commonly reported (as I said before) 
that Andamana was inspired, and her con- 
duct on this occasion tended to confirm 
this impression on the members of the 
Council. After a brief pause, she arose 
and upbraided them as unworthy of all 
she had done, and dared them to cite one 
instance where, in the judgments or de- 
cisions she had rendered, she had been 
swayed by personal interest or personal 
advantage. She then resumed her seat 
and waited in vain for a reply, then arose 
again and pronounced the Council dis- 
solved. 



ANDAMANA. 15 

The adoption of this strain of superiori- 
ty was a bold and successful stroke of 
policy. From this time no further op- 
position was made to her assumptions of 
power, which she henceforth exercised 
with regal sway. 

Her next step was to revise the judicial 
code of her district, abolishing many laws 
which she did not approve ; altering 
others, and introducing many new ones. 
She also established especial punishments 
for different offences which, before, were 
left to the discretion of the magistrates ; 
defined the duties of those officers, and 
appointed punishments for bribery and 
the perversion of justice. 

Pursuing the same course of assumption 
of power which had hitherto been so suc- 
cessful in her own district, she sent copies 



i6 



ANDAMANA. 



of her code of laws to the surrounding 
districts, directing its observance in their 
future administration of justice. In her 
own province Andamana was almost 
idolized, but her influence was little felt 
and altogether unacknowledged beyond it, 
and her messages and instructions were 
treated with scorn, and, in some cases, 
her messengers with punishment. 

Immediately on their return she visited 
Gumidafe, known as the Knight of Fa- 
caracas, a nobleman whose habitation was 
a fortified cave in the neighborhood of 
Gaidar, and who was said to be the 
greatest warrior on the island, and who 
had control of a large force of armed 
men. To him, it is said, she related her 
grievances, and made an offer of marriage 
on condition that he should espouse her 



I 



I 



ANDAMAN A. 1 7 

cause and fight her battles, which offer he 
gladly accepted. She then called the peo- 
ple of her district to arms, and when they 
were assembled, had the marriage cere- 
mony uniting her and Gumidafe perform- 
ed before the multitude, and installing 
him in the command of the army, and 
(knowing the influence of her presence in 
the expedition she contemplated) placing 
herself at his side, with his troops united 
to those of Gaidar, swept down on the of- 
fending provinces, and soon overrun the 
whole island. In every place where she 
went, she proclaimed immunity to all who 
would join her standard, but destruction 
to her opponents. In this way her forces 
increased as she advanced. Many towns 
received her with acclamation, and she 
speedily overcame all opposition.: Every 



ANDAMANA. 



province having submitted to her sway, 
she returned to Gaidar and proclaimed 
herself and Gumidafe queen and king of 
Canary. 

Her reign was a long and a beneficent 
one, and her first act was to establish a 
uniform code of laws for the whole island. 

Andamana and Gumidafe were succeed- 
ed by their son, Artemis (or, according to 
some authorities, Artemi Semidan), who 
was killed in battle with the French in 
1400. 

On the death of the son of Artemis 
(some writers say of that prince himself) 
the island was divided into two kingdoms 
between the two sons of the preceding 
monarch, the northern portion, called the 
kingdom of Gaidar, being assigned to the 
elder, Egonayche Semidan, and the south- 



ANDAMANA. 19 

ern, or kingdom of Telde, to the younger, 
Bentagoyhe. The king of Telde, whose 
domain was the largest and most populous, 
was required to attend with his chiefs an- 
nually in council at Gaidar; but after as- 
suming his throne he refused to comply 
with these conditions, which occasioned 
war between the two brothers. 

On the death of Bentagoyhe, the king- 
dom of Telde was usurped by a powerful 
noble named Doramus (afterwards killed 
by the Spaniards), who caused him- 
self to be elected to the supreme au- 
thority by the Gayres, or governors of 
subordinate provinces, in preference to the 
young son of Bentagoyhe, who was a mere 
child, and who took refuge on this occa- 
sion with his uncle, Egonayche Semidan, 
by whom he was kindly received and 



20 ANDAMANA. 

reared. Whether the young king of Telde, 
who subsequently killed himself at Ansite, 
was the son of Doramus or this son of 
Bentagoyhe, the history of Canary does 
not inform us. 

The descendants of Andamana con- 
tinued to reign in Gaidar until the con- 
quest of the island by the Spaniards under 
Pedro de Vera, during the reign of Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella in Spain. Guaneche 
Semidan (subsequently killed in battle 
with the Guanches on the island of Tene- 
riffe) was the last king of Gaidar, and had 
no sons; but his daugher, Teneshoya, 
was contracted in marriage to the young 
king of Telde, who hoped by this means 
to reunite the wh.ole island under one 
sceptre. 

Guaneche Semidan and his daughter 



ANDAMANA. 2 I 

were captured by De Vera and taken to 
Spain, where they were converted to 
Christianity and baptized, he by the name 
of Don Ferdinand, and she by that of 
Dona Catherina, or Dona Catalina (for 
she is called by both names by different 
Spanish writers). 

Returning to the island, which De Vera 
had not yet entirely conqueied, Don Fer 
dinand was instrumental in effecting its 
complete surrender. The Spaniards had 
captured all the sea-coast, but the remnant 
of the Canarians, who still refused to sur- 
render, had assembled in an inaccessible 
height of the mountains at a place called 
Ansite. Don Ferdinand ascended to 
their stronghold, where he was received 
with shouts and tears by the people, who 
were overjoyed at the sight of their old 



2 2 ANDAMAN A. 

king. As soon as the tumult of their 
excitement was over, Don Ferdinand ad- 
dressed them in an eloquent harangue, ad- 
vising them, if not for their own sakes, at 
least for the sakes of their wives and 
children, to renounce the thought of oppo- 
sition to the Spaniards, which could only- 
end in their own destruction; but who, 
he assured them, if they surrendered 
without fighting, would treat them with 
leniency, and particularly would confirm 
and continue the nobles in the possession 
of their estates. He thus persuaded them 
to throw down their arms, and submit to 
the Spanish general, which they, with cry- 
ing and tears, agreed to do. The young 
king of Telde, seeing his hopes thus 
blasted, and the old Faycag, or High- 
Priest of the island, who were among 



ANDAMANA. 23 

those present, advanced to the edge of a 
cliff, and having there embraced each 
other, and calling with a loud voice, 
"Atirtisma! Atirtisma!" (which was the 
Canarian method of invoking God) threw 
themselves headlong over the precipice, 
and were dashed to pieces. Don Ferdi- 
nand then led the rest of the Caharians 
down to De Vera, who was pleased to see 
them thus brought in without bloodshed, 
as their mountain fastness could not have 
been stormed and taken, had they refused 
to yield, without great loss of life. Pedro 
de Vera feasted the Canarians, and order- 
ed Te Deum to te sung on this occasion, 
which completed the conquest of the is- 
land on the 29th of April, 1483. 

Dona Catherina (or Catalina) the 
daughter of Ferdinand, subsequently re- 



24 



ANDAMANA. 



turned to Spain, and was married to Don 
Fernando Perez de Guzman, Senor de 
Batres (or Vatres), son of Don Pedro 
Suarez de Toledo y Guzman, brother of 
Don Juan Ramirez de Guzman, from 
whom Eugenie, the late empress of 
France, is lineally descended. 

Juan de Abreu de Galineo says that the 
daughter of the king of Gaidar married 
Ferdinand de Guzman, son of Alonzo de 
Guzman, nephew of Ferdinand Perez, 
lord of Vatres and Alcubillete in the 
province of Toledo ; ;8ut the genealogical 
records of the house ^ Guzman show 
conclusively that she married Fernando 
(or Ferdinand) Perez de Guzman, Senor 
de Batres (or lord of Batres), after the 
death of his first wife^ who was Dona 
Marguerita de Avallaneda. These rec- 



ANDAMANA. 25 

ords mention no Guzman who was lord 
of Alcubillete, but the above-named Fer- 
nando Perez de Guzman, lord of Batres, 
is undoubtedly the same referred to by 
Galineo, as the dates correspond, and 
Spanish writers often use indifferently the 
B and V. 

Thus ended the royal line of Anda- 
mana. History has recorded many a 
name less worthy of memory than hers, 
but its pages, except in Spanish works, 
make no mention of her, nor of the Na- 
polenonic coup d'etat by which she first 
achieved her supremacy. 



The authorities consulted in this ac- 
count are : 

Historia de los Canarias. By Ab. Gal. 



26 



ANDAMAN A. 



Historia de la Gran - Canaria, By 
Melleres. 

Genealogia de la casa de Guzman. By 
Rodriguez. 

Historia del Discidri?niento y la Con- 
quista de las Yslas de las Canarias, By 
Galineo. 

Titulos de Castilla, By Berny. 

Monarquia Espanola. By Riverola. 

Teatro Universal, By Garcia. 

Asturias Ilustrado, By Trellos. 

Archives of the houses of Teva and 
Montijo, and several other Spanish works. 

w. B. w. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ^1 



021 617 450 1. 









i^^M^HSHH 








T^m&^gis^'^'P'^ 



friMfiffffffitfiiYiifrm 



kV;<- 



.1 XM 



